Where to start investing?

Will123321

Hello.

I'm thinking to start to invest money in something. Unfortunately I'm quite a bit skeptical and probably no having enough knowledge. 

I was thinking about crypto currencies and stocks which I've already bought some. 

But would like to know the best and low risks investment and not with huge capital. 

Thanks. 

eskbanker

Best bet will be to start by getting to grips with the principles of investing (what/why/when) before the mechanics of doing so (how/where) - newbie investor threads on here typically highlight reading material at sites suited to inexperienced investors, such as:

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/savings/investing/investing-beginners-guide
https://www.hl.co.uk/beginners-guides/investing
http://www.monevator.com
http://kroijer.com/
http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.com/
https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/

as well as bearing in mind a number of key points of principle:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock MyMap and L&G Multi-Index.
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA (or perhaps a SIPP) as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

dunstonh

Unfortunately I'm quite a bit skeptical and probably no having enough knowledge. 

Sceptical of what?

I was thinking about crypto currencies and stocks which I've already bought some. 

Crypto puts you into the high risk unknown with no consumer protection.   Individual stocks requires you to understand the books, business model and management of a company and has no consumer protection.

Effectively, with those two options, you are diving off the high board into the deep end and potentially unsure if the pool has any water in it.

But would like to know the best and low risks investment and not with huge capital. 

The options you are looking at are high risk to extreme risk.   So, are you saying that you are a low risk investor?
There is no best option. 

Give us a bit more info to help narrow the options down.

Albermarle

I was thinking about crypto currencies and stocks which I've already bought some. 
But would like to know the best and low risks investment 

Individual shares and crypto are not low risk !!

Will123321

eskbanker said:

Best bet will be to start by getting to grips with the principles of investing (what/why/when) before the mechanics of doing so (how/where) - newbie investor threads on here typically highlight reading material at sites suited to inexperienced investors, such as:

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/savings/investing/investing-beginners-guide
https://www.hl.co.uk/beginners-guides/investing
http://www.monevator.com
http://kroijer.com/
http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.com/
https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/

as well as bearing in mind a number of key points of principle:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock MyMap and L&G Multi-Index.
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA (or perhaps a SIPP) as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

5. What platform would you recommend? I've tried etoro, I've put down only £60 and $10 down for each well know companies in US.

6. What do you mean?

2. And yes, looking for long term investment. 

Will123321

dunstonh said:

Unfortunately I'm quite a bit skeptical and probably no having enough knowledge. 

Sceptical of what?

I was thinking about crypto currencies and stocks which I've already bought some. 

Crypto puts you into the high risk unknown with no consumer protection.   Individual stocks requires you to understand the books, business model and management of a company and has no consumer protection.

Effectively, with those two options, you are diving off the high board into the deep end and potentially unsure if the pool has any water in it.

But would like to know the best and low risks investment and not with huge capital. 

The options you are looking at are high risk to extreme risk.   So, are you saying that you are a low risk investor?
There is no best option. 

Give us a bit more info to help narrow the options down.

Sceptical about investing money at all. I'm also thinking about properties, but that's a risk there as well. 

Would like to know more options in low risk category. 


I won't put massive cash into crypto for sure. 

eskbanker

Will123321 said:

eskbanker said:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock MyMap and L&G Multi-Index.
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA (or perhaps a SIPP) as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

5. What platform would you recommend? I've tried etoro, I've put down only £60 and $10 down for each well know companies in US.

6. What do you mean?

I wouldn't recommend a platform without knowing more about your likely investing profile, hence point 4 in that list!

The point about tax wrappers is a generic one, in that nobody wants to pay tax if easily avoided - any investments you make outside such wrappers are subject to taxation on generated income (from dividends) and capital gains (when selling), but if you're only tinkering with small amounts it's not a particularly significant issue at this stage.

Will123321

eskbanker said:

Will123321 said:

eskbanker said:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock MyMap and L&G Multi-Index.
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA (or perhaps a SIPP) as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

5. What platform would you recommend? I've tried etoro, I've put down only £60 and $10 down for each well know companies in US.

6. What do you mean?

I wouldn't recommend a platform without knowing more about your likely investing profile, hence point 4 in that list!

The point about tax wrappers is a generic one, in that nobody wants to pay tax if easily avoided - any investments you make outside such wrappers are subject to taxation on generated income (from dividends) and capital gains (when selling), but if you're only tinkering with small amounts it's not a particularly significant issue at this stage.

So let's say I would like to invest in long term in tech companies like Apple which will pay dividends (I assume). Where should I start? 

eskbanker

Will123321 said:

eskbanker said:

Will123321 said:

eskbanker said:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock MyMap and L&G Multi-Index.
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA (or perhaps a SIPP) as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

5. What platform would you recommend? I've tried etoro, I've put down only £60 and $10 down for each well know companies in US.

6. What do you mean?

I wouldn't recommend a platform without knowing more about your likely investing profile, hence point 4 in that list!

The point about tax wrappers is a generic one, in that nobody wants to pay tax if easily avoided - any investments you make outside such wrappers are subject to taxation on generated income (from dividends) and capital gains (when selling), but if you're only tinkering with small amounts it's not a particularly significant issue at this stage.

So let's say I would like to invest in long term in tech companies like Apple which will pay dividends (I assume). Where should I start? 

I wouldn't start there (hence point 3 above)!  However, if you feel you know enough about specific companies to invest in them directly, then most platforms would support that - if you're literally looking at small purchases in $10 territory then you'd need to avoid platforms with dealing fees that would erode your returns, which leaves you with the likes of Freetrade.  Check out comparison sites like https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

Will123321

eskbanker said:

Will123321 said:

eskbanker said:

Will123321 said:

eskbanker said:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock MyMap and L&G Multi-Index.
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA (or perhaps a SIPP) as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

5. What platform would you recommend? I've tried etoro, I've put down only £60 and $10 down for each well know companies in US.

6. What do you mean?

I wouldn't recommend a platform without knowing more about your likely investing profile, hence point 4 in that list!

The point about tax wrappers is a generic one, in that nobody wants to pay tax if easily avoided - any investments you make outside such wrappers are subject to taxation on generated income (from dividends) and capital gains (when selling), but if you're only tinkering with small amounts it's not a particularly significant issue at this stage.

So let's say I would like to invest in long term in tech companies like Apple which will pay dividends (I assume). Where should I start? 

I wouldn't start there (hence point 3 above)!  However, if you feel you know enough about specific companies to invest in them directly, then most platforms would support that - if you're literally looking at small purchases in $10 territory then you'd need to avoid platforms with dealing fees that would erode your returns, which leaves you with the likes of Freetrade.  Check out comparison sites like https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

That's what I did, tried $10 in 5 well know US company. 


Regarding Point 3:

A bit confused about collective investment, and what's global multi asset? 

eskbanker

Will123321 said:

Regarding Point 3:

A bit confused about collective investment, and what's global multi asset? 

Collective investments include funds, which own underlying stakes in hundreds or thousands of companies, offering diversification, in order to minimise risk and smooth volatility.  Multi-asset funds hold different asset classes, such as equities and bonds, again to manage volatility and provide complementary characteristics, and these will usually entail global coverage, thereby again minimising risk by including all major markets.

Buying into an individual company, or even many within one sector within one market, would generally be regarded as poor diversification - even though that particular sector has flourished in recent times, it's unlikely that it would continue to do so reliably over the long term.

The articles linked above explain all this....